The Quest for Wholeness

Holiness is the quest for wholeness, which we can only find when we are immersed in God’s will for our lives. Wholeness is when we are living our true God given purpose. We can only come to find this purpose when we have experienced sanctification through our relationship with Jesus Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit coming into us and filling us, teaching us, purifying us and setting us apart for God’s purposes. Ralph Waldo Emerson once said; “If you would lift me up you must be on higher ground.” We all know that there is no-one higher or with more influence and accomplishment than the Holy Spirit. “He has showed you, O man, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.” (Micah 6:8). To me this scripture defines holiness because when we are acting in these ways we are walking with God and more than that, pleasing God as we journey.

I know a man who tries to be holy. (Sometimes I am that man.) He rushes from here to there to witness the gospel to others. He is always on the move. He believes he has a limited time on the earth to accomplish the work of God and must work at a frenetic pace to do all he can in the time allotted to him. How often we fall into this trap! We believe that we must rush around – we become human doings and forget that God called us human beings. We are so busy doing what we believe God wants when we have not taken time to pray and ask Him what He wants. It is arrogance masked in self-deception to anticipate God’s desires before taking time to be alone with Him in silent contemplation and allowing Him to teach us and show us what it is He actually desires of us.

Holiness is a state of life, a grace filled life. Human beings can only achieve holiness through being united to Jesus and being infilled with grace from the Holy Spirit who dispenses all graces. No one can be holy when separated from God and holiness dissipates when sin enters into our hearts. To remain in a state of grace we must remain united to Christ. We must become one with Him. Seeking Him with all of our hearts, and obeying whatever call He places on our lives. We were born for service and we must live our lives in service of God and others for this is God’s will for us. Praying at all times for all things with the right attitude trusting in God’s goodness and His providence. Praising and thanking God for everything we experience believing that whatever happens in our lives is God’s will for us.

Sometimes we think we are holy already and know from past experiences we have had what God requires of us. We put aside the truth that God is constantly remaking us that we are on a journey and as long as we are on the earth we are changing and growing. God tells us in Isaiah 43:16 “I am going to do something new. It is already happening. Don’t you recognize it? I will clear a way in the desert. I will make rivers on dry land.” God is Creator, He is innovator, He is miraculous, and He does not repeat Himself. When we are looking to the old ways of doing things, He is not there, when we are looking ahead to see what is coming, He is not there, “The Lord was not in the wind or the earthquake or the fire” (1 Kings 19:12). Where was He then? He was the still small voice waiting to be heard.

To experience holiness we have to be submissive to God’s will, we have to search the scriptures and know them, we must pray without ceasing, we must study and learn, we have to be thankful, we have to be earnest and persistent, we must exhibit faith and we have to become comfortable with silence. God is in the silence.